Holding On By A Horses Tail
by Blueribon
Summary: A year has passed since the battle at The Burrow and Voldemorts planning to strike again. But where? That's for our Golden Trio to find out....obv. HGDM and suggested HPGW not DH compliant yet to decide HBP compliancy and maybe even OotP complancy :S
1. prologue

_Authors Note _

_Just to say that I started writing this on the poolside during a holiday In Greece in a lovely orange notebook. By the end of the week id managed to get it wet all of 3 times…two of which were on the same day…hehehe… so anyway as its still only the beginning of the holiday hopefully I'll be able to type more of it up later in the hols_

_Oh and just so you know and I don't get sued or whatever I don't own anything in this story that has anything to do with Harry Potter or any of the books that are written about him. _

_So here is the prologue …enjoy_

* * *

Hermione pressed a gentle kiss to the forehead of the sleeping blonde in their bed. A small tear escaped her painfully watering eyes. It snaked its way down her pale cheeks leaving a watery track before it fell on to the nose of the young man. She stood back, stifled a sob and remembered some of the good times the two had shared.

But the war was still on. _He _was still on_ their _side. The dark mark still adorned his left arm. He was her enemy when she left this room he'd go back to being Malfoy, mudblood hater, death eater and her worst nightmare. It was time for her to return to the order, to the safety of her friends. She sighed, mournfully picked up her suitcase and apparated.


	2. Chapter 1: Into The Fray

_Disclaimer: I own 'stuff' however this 'stuff' does not include Harry Potter and co. Mores the pity:(_

_Just to say it's been a while since I opened the orange note book containing this story; in fact it's been at least a year possibly 2. Unfortunately every time I think about starting to write again I get caught up in what I want to happen later in the story. But for now I'm going to post this and see how much more I can get done before I get stuck again. _

Draco Malfoy paced the halls of Malfoy manor impatiently. He was waiting for the latest shipment of poisonous potions from his godfather. The potions master was late. Malfoys didn't take kindly to lateness. "If it was avoidable it was a crime" was one of the Malfoy's many mottoes. The thought of it brought a lump to his throat along with painful memories and dreaded emotions. Love, he thought venomously, it's an avoidable, unnecessary emotion, bitter sweet, that can haunt you worse than any ghost could.

His train of thought was interrupted by the ringing of the wards. Snape had arrived finally. Malfoy strode of to wards the disturbance. Nobody could move in his house with out him knowing. Ever since his father had been killed last year in the battle at The Burrow, one of the greatest battles the wizarding world had seen in many centauries, he'd had the knowledge of the movement of every house elf and the other creatures in the manor and grounds. Many wizards and witches had been killed over those few days, lost from both sides, even more had been injured. He himself had received a snake like scar that ran the length of his back, even with the assistance of the cleverest witch of their year.

She wasn't a medi-witch though, he thought, but she was the best he, a death eater, could find. He chuckled as he remembered her protests in helping him, after all he did have to kidnap her first but shed gone along with things in the end. Draco sighed. It had taken weeks to gain her trust and he'd fallen hard for her then. But she left him at the first opportunity. Damn it. He punched the wall. He hated her but loved her all the same.

"Ah Severus how lovely of you to take time out of you busy schedule to join me' Draco's voice sounding close to a snarl due to his impatience, well that and the fact that his dark mark had just started burning terribly. Snape winced as he also felt the call. The two men glared at each other before they disapperated to their masters side.

Relations between godfather and the Malfoy brat were being stretched close to their limits.

..............................chapter one .............................1.1...............................

"We don't know what it is their planning this time, Severus has been cooped up in that dreadful potions lab of his preparing volatile potions for Voldemort. We don't know why he wants them of course but we think it could be a mass muggle attack he's planning."

Remus's voice broke through Hermione's day dreaming. Voldemort, planning a mass muggle attack, hmmm not good, she thought silently. No wonder they want us away from large muggle populations. She noted the worried glances that were exchanged between Arthur, Molly and Remus and the puzzled frowns on the faces of Ron and Harry. Those two were as dense as they'd been in their 1st year at Hogwarts. Time to explain things to them she decided.

"Guys they're sending us away for a bit to stay in a place in the country, a place called Winnington. It's renowned for its gossipy nature. So if there's a large muggle gathering of any kind then we shall know of it at least 3 months before it happens. The order used to have someone situated here all the time but since last year and the events at The Burrow," A pained expression crossed the faces of every person in the room at the mention of this but Hermione continued. "Our resources have been slightly stretched and unable to maintain a constant post in the area." Remus seemed glad that Hermione had taken over the briefing of their mission.

"As I was saying we'll be staying in the village of Winnington although we shall each be staying in different places with different jobs to do. We shall also be arriving at different times as so we won't arouse suspicions. The major problems have been ironed out with suitable confounding charms and memory modification spells. I'm sorry Remus I'm not sure of the finer details I think I fell asleep at that point." Humour danced in her eyes as the fact that she'd been in the library at the same time as they'd been discussing their plan was apparent to the elder order members.

Remus gave a light laugh before continuing with the explanation.

"Well Ron and Harry, we thought you would enjoy some physical labour but it's also vital that you have some contact with the locals we have arranged for you to work on a farm run by a tenant of an elderly woman called Winifred Greyham. The village itself is very old fashioned so you'll find that many things are done by hand or with very traditional methods such as horse and plough. Don't worry you'll have loads of fun." He nearly added that he and James had done the very same thing as young me when they had first started working for the order.

"You two will be staying on the farm with the Fielders. They're a lovely couple whose children have grown up and left them and they need a hand bringing in their harvest each year. There will be long days but you'll be in close contact with the other village folk. Hermione you shall be staying with Winifred Greyham as her great-niece, she is the main land owner in the area so she has many links with the village council as well as being the chair of course. Well anyway it'll probably easiest for you to read you cover stories I'm not the world's greatest explainer."

Giving an apologetic smile Remus handed out some brown A4 envelopes. Inside was a fuller set of instructions. Telling them the sort of person they needed to be and the activities they would be expected to participate in. Hermione smiled broadly at the thought of being a rich stylish young lady from the upper classes. It was like every girls childhood dream and even better was that the place was very traditional and old fashioned. Lovely.

For a while Harry and Ron looked rather narked about not having an input in the matter but these things needed to be done by someone. They set about their reading becoming engrossed in their new characters. Hermione drifted back of into her own little world.

_AN: End of chapter...so what do you think? Hopefully I won't take too long to get my next chapter outjust have to type it up :D  
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